Voters back 'three strikes' and stem cell proposals

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To borrow a term from the entertainment business, the Governator
still has his mojo.

Apart from voting for a president, a senator, and local members
of Congress and the State Assembly, Californians also had to decide
on 16 ballot proposals, ranging from gambling at Indian casinos to
the repeal of the state's "three strikes" imprisonment law. There
to guide them in their deliberations was their beloved Governor,
Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The most groundbreaking of the measures, a $US3 billion program
for embryonic stem cell research, was backed by Mr Schwarzenegger
against the wishes of the national Republican Party and President
George Bush, who decided three years ago to limit government
funding for the research. The program will use borrowed funds
underwritten by the state.

Mr Schwarzenegger also campaigned against, and in one case
financed opposition to, other ballot measures, which can be
introduced by public petition.

The bad guy of The Terminator is now the guardian of
law and order. Mr Schwarzenegger paid $US2 million from his
campaign fund to beat a proposed amendment of the "three strikes"
law, which mandates life imprisonment for a third felony
conviction. The amendment was narrowly defeated.

Mr Schwarzenegger's opposition also stymied proposals that would
have allowed Indian tribes unlimited expansion of casinos on their
land, and the introduction of poker machines to card rooms and
racecourses.

The direction of the Governor's thumb also matched the fate of
proposals to raise taxes on phones to fund emergency medical care
(defeated) and to limit lawsuits against businesses (approved).

Mr Schwarzenegger's second career as head of the world's sixth
largest economy was itself the result of a ballot initiative, hence
his support for this peculiarly Californian form of direct
democracy.

"This is what I love about election day," he said after the
results were announced. "Because when the people flex their
muscles, then the state gets much stronger."

The Governor was a fleeting figure in the presidential election
campaign. He gave a speech at the Republican National Convention in
early September, then appeared with Mr Bush at a rally in Columbus,
Ohio, last Friday.

Two days later, on 60 Minutes, he said he supported
amending the US constitution to allow foreign-born citizens to run
for president.